If I were in your position, I’d be politely suggesting to these people who seem to think they have the answer come up with a better solution. Or better yet, maybe ask THEM to act as security guards to the bloody vase of roses.
And fuck them for implying that it’s your fault that not every female got a rose!
A coworker once asked me if I wanted to split a pizza with him for lunch. I agreed, and left some money with him to cover my half. My office is right across the hall from the kitchen, and right before the pizza arrived I got a call that I had to take. My pizza buddy went in, ate a couple slices, and left. Maybe 20 minutes after it arrived, I ended my call and went into the kitchen. A young woman sat in front of the now empty pizza box, and she took her first bite of the very last piece as I stopped and stared.
“Did you eat that whole pizza?”
“No, somebody ate a few pieces before I got here.”
“Was it your pizza?”
“No, but it was just sitting here.”
“Well, that was supposed to be my lunch.”
“You want this one?” (missing a bite)
“Forget it.”
It was just sitting there. The fucking thing didn’t even have time to cool off. Well, I saw food, and nobody was here telling me not to eat it, so I guess the pizza fairies just brought it for anyone who might want some, so allow me to gorge myself munch munch munch…
I guess it’s my fault, though. I mean, it was just sitting there.
I have to disagree-when I was in high school, my friends and I used to give each other cards and candy (usually funny ones and candy hearts) on V-Day. And one year when I was working at Kmart, one of the cashiers went out and bought all the girls a rose and a mini box of chocolates since we all had to work.
Nothing wrong with friendship gifts on Valentines Day.
At my prior employer we had something similar, we would have aluminum cans we recycled for a BBQ fund. One particular woman if not watched closely would steal bulk food for the BBQ. In one instance we had 4 tri-tips that we had just finished cooking, i set them on the table in the breakroom and went back out to the grill to get my knife and came back to 3 tri-tips and one of the employees getting in her car out front with a little foil bundle under her arm and leaving the property 15-20 min before lunch was due to start.
I our HR managers take…“she didn’t steal from the company so I have nothing to discipline her for”. Abandoning her station and leaving the property without permission while on the clock…maybe…nah that wouldn’t mean anything but what would i know, I was just a silly inventory guy.
We already suspected that she was doing things like this on prior occasions so from there on out the whole crew watched like a hawk when we had these events. Two events later time she tried to load up a plate with about 3 pounds of food and stuck it in the fridge then went back and made a plate for herself. The whole crew communally started going medieval on her until she put the food back and took her plate and went outside. She quit a few months later citing how everyone was being such assholes to her over a “few scraps of food”. Of course it couldn’t have had anything to do with her husband catching her having sex with another man who also worked at our warehouse…noooo couldn’t have been that.
It’s common knowledge that any individualy dispensible food item (ESPECIALLY pizza) left alone on a community kitchen table or counter is community food. That goes double if there are already slices missing, and quadruple if the box is open. There are minor caveats (name written on box, personal sized pizza, etc.), but those don’t sound like they apply.